What's Possible Together?

"We did not slow down, take a deep breath, take a step back, and ask ourselves, 'What's possible together?' That's a tragedy. Everybody has lost." ~ Bryant Rollins

I recently watched The Busing Battleground. It’s a documentary about mandated busing in Boston in 1974. I sometimes forget that busing was not just a southern experience; it was an American experience. I want to discuss the film with my Black friends, but I don’t want them to watch violence against Black children again, or hear arguments they’ve heard too much already.

Parts of it were familiar. Parts of it made me cringe. Parts of it are replaying today in our schools with the censorship of books, ideas, and vocabulary. Journalists who were interviewed said they were encouraged to report only on the most violent and attention grabbing incidents. Sound familiar? This resulted in an imbalanced view. Students who were interviewed said that if the parents would get out of the way they would work it all out. Another truth that holds true.

Bryant Rollins, Black journalist and former writer for the NYTimes ended the film with this:

“If there had been a way for deep dialogue between Blacks and Whites, a lot of the conflict that arose during the '60s and '70s was avoidable. People were in a state of violent agreement. What we agreed about was the inefficacy of busing. White parents didn't want it for their kids. They had different motivations and different reasons, and Black parents would have preferred not to have to have busing if they had had quality schools. We did not slow down, take a deep breath, take a step back, and ask ourselves, ‘What's possible together?’ “

The glimmer of hope is this: we don’t have to repeat tragic history. We have the tools to change the future of the children, and therefore, the country. Deep breaths, stepping back, deep dialogue, and asking “What’s possible together?”